February 2011 Meeting Summary

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Our February meeting was chock-full of both club business and an excellent presentation. Before the presentation, club business included a discussion of the upcoming TWE Exhibit submissions. The theme this year is “Close-Up: Parts of the Whole”. Our usual March presentation will be replaced with choosing the photographs that will make up this year’s exhibit at The Wildlife Experience. See both the February and March newsletters for more information on submitting photos for the exhibit.

Another discussion involved some clarifications of the rules for the monthly competition. Your board of directors and officers took some time discussing the fact the a few photographs have been allowed in the competitions that did not really fit in the categories as originally envisioned or contained elements that were outside what our club focuses on. Updated rules clarifying these issues were introduced and supported by a vote of the members present. All members are encouraged to read the competition rules again and make sure our submitted photos remain within the guidelines.

The members present also voted on two financial expenditures. The first item voted on was the purchase of a new sound system. The club will be purchasing a better sound system for club meetings, including a wireless mike and speakers. The second item voted on was the purchase of brimmed hats for all 2010 club members, celebrating the club’s “Natures Best” win. The hats will contain MHWPC information or a logo.

After all this club business, Glenn Randall was introduced as our presenter for February, with a show entitled “Sunrise from 14,000 Feet”. Glenn has produced some truly beautiful photography that he shared with us, as well as telling us the stories behind the pictures. In general, being at the top of a 14’er at sunrise is an ambitious undertaking, involving hiking to timberline the day before, setting up camp, and getting some sleep. While many of us would be daunted by climbing a 14’er during the day, Glenn then gets up sometime around midnight, and hikes from timberline to the summit by headlamp in the dark – while carrying all the photography equipment needed for the shoot. Glenn is expert at determining the sun and moon positions, and envisioning possible shadows and light as a result. The resulting photographs are far beyond the average ‘at the top’ photo. In some cases, Glenn has successfully planned shoots where both the rising sun and the setting moon can be captured in the same panoramic view. Hearing the stories related to each group of summit photos truly added to the audiences understanding of the work involved, and the experiences of, capturing these photographs. Glenn stated he has photographed from 20 summits 33 times – this includes repeat trips to some summits, either returning the same day for sunset pictures or returning during a different season.

Glenn had two of his recent books available for purchase during the break, and also judged our monthly competition. One thing I appreciated about Glenn’s judging was his use of a wider range of numbers. Frequently, our judges use only maybe 7, 8, and 9 values. Glenn used values from 5 to 9, and I found the greater range informative (even though I only got a 5 – darn…). His comments were also constructive and concise.

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